The Midwest chapter of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (MWSCC) presented market intelligence and honored lifetime service at its April educational dinner meeting. Gillian Morris, director of Kline Management Consulting Market Research, presented the status of the hair, skin and naturals markets, after which two cosmetic industry veterans were presented with the prestigious Stanley Allured Lifetime Service Award, named after the founding father of Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine.

Market Update

Morris opened the evening with the observation that, of the many industries she studies, personal care was one of the only ones that survived the global recession. She noted that Europe continues to have the largest share in personal care but that it is losing its strength. Personal care markets exhibiting high growth rates, according to Morris, are Brazil, China, India, Russia and Argentina. Medium growth was noted in Canada, Mexico, Poland and South Korea, while low growth was found in the markets of France Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Morris suggested this low growth could be attributed to certain markets already being mature.

The segment of personal care showing the most growth was skin care. Specifically, the mass market continues to dominate personal care product sales at 50%, with luxury at 15%, direct sales at 9%, specialty at 3%, salons at 2%, pharmacies at 2% and others at 19%. Morris added that luxury took a hit in 2008–2009, propelling companies to establish lower-priced mass market lines for their luxury products.

Within the skin care market, facial treatments accounted for 20% of sales; however, she added that sun care is increasing in strength. Asia-Pacific reportedly accounts for 40% of the skin care market, with China becoming a key country for skin care; also growing is Latin America, while Europe’s growth has decreased.

Sales in hair care were notably driven by (in order of predominance): hair conditioners, hair colors and shampoos, followed by hair stylers, ethnic hair products and perms. The growth in conditioners, according to Morris, is being led by Brazil. Although the Latin American hair care market has seen big growth in the last few years, the majority of the market’s sales is in Europe (33%), with Asia (25%), North America (20%), Latin America (18%) and others (4%) following.

Morris followed her overviews of both the skin and hair care markets with a discussion of naturals. In 2010, the natural market grew 15% to US $23 billion. This market has seen consistent growth across regions with key drivers being consumer perspective, external influences and industry factors. Asia is leading the natural personal care market sales, with Europe, the United States and Brazil following. However, the biggest growth in the natural personal care market was found to be in Brazil and Asia.

Interestingly, Kline classifies natural personal care products as either “truly natural” or “natural inspired,” which account for 46% and 54% of the industry, respectfully. In the United States, “truly natural” is growing faster than “natural inspired,” as Morris noted that “natural products are giving a boost to the US personal care market. Morris added that many companies are crossing from “natural inspired” to “truly natural,” and added that as prices for natural products continue to drop, their sales will increase.

Honoring Lifetime Service

Following Morris’ informative presentation and a delicious dinner of Japanese fare, Melissa Tolla, chairperson of the chapter, introduced the Stanley Allured Lifetime Service Award, an award founded in 2010 to recognize a member of the MWSCC for a lifetime of distinguished contributions, achievements and service to the chapter.

Dennis P. Ciechna, chair of the Lifetime Service Committee, spoke about his friend and the award’s namesake Stan A. Allured. In 1960, Allured’s family purchased The American Perfumerand Aromatics, and he was charged with managing the magazine.

In 1961, Allured changed the name to The American Perfumer and Cosmetics, which was later divided into Cosmetics & Toiletries magazine and Perfumer & Flavorist magazine; however, one of its columnists and editors, Maison G. deNavarre, suggested that Allured become more involved in the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (SCC). In the time since, Allured has been heavily involved at both the national and regional levels, including: as newsletter chair (1971–72), as publications manager (1972–75), as award chair (1973–74), seminar publicity (1974), as director of area II (1975–1977), international affairs (1975–1977), council steering (1976), long range financial planning (1977), nominations and elections (1977), as MWSCC chair (1981), as councilor (1981), as director of area II (1983–1985), as president (1985, 1986), nominations and elections (1987), and president’s advisory (1987–1990). In addition, he received the National Merit Award in 1982.

Allured was present at the dinner meeting to say a few words. “The Chicago chapter (now MWSCC) was founded due to the willingness of its members to get up and talk about their technologies,” noted Allured. He continued, “I am greatly honored by having my name on that certificate. I take it as an honor of all the chapter’s founding members.”

One of the MWSCC founding members was Gus S. Kass, who was also present at the meeting and was awarded the 2010 Stanley Allured Lifetime Service Award. Kass joined the SCC in 1948, and his 64 years in the industry included a significant amount of work in hair care. “I became a cosmetic chemist at my first job, although I did not realize it then,” noted Kass. Throughout his career, Kass supported the educational mission of the MWSCC by speaking at monthly meetings and other professional events on topics related to hair care such as: oxidative coloring, permanent waving, stability testing of hair preparations, evaluation of shampoos and single fiber tensile kinetics.

Now an emeritus member of the SCC, Kass has served the SCC in roles such as professional affairs chair (1970–1971) and annual seminar technical program (1974). Perhaps what he is best known for, however, was appearing in “X-perts at your Service,” a mini-series sponsored by the Chicago Technical Societies Council on the WTTW television network. Kass spoke about the theory and chemistry of hair waving solutions and discussed the principles of emulsifying agents and their use. He was joined on the television program by George Kolar (Kolar Laboratories), Eugene Rose (Gene Rose Company), and William Colburn, PhD (Colburn Laboratories), who served as moderator.

Following Kass, the 2011 Stanley Allured Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Jerome A. Feit, who was also present at the meeting. He commented, in reference to joining the SCC, “Stan got me to come to my first SCC meeting.” In his 56 years in the personal care industry, Feit (now an emeritus member) served: as MWSCC chair (1984), as MWSCC chair-elect (1983), as MWSCC treasurer, on the MWSCC newsletter committee, on the MWSCC Suppliers’ Night (now TeamWorks) committee, and as area II director (1988).

Feit founded the first Suppliers’ Night. He also joked that after companies told their cosmetic chemists they would not pay for SCC "dinner" meetings, he proposed re-naming them as “scientific dinner meetings,” so that the costs of attending would be covered. Among his other accomplishments, Feit purchased the first set of ledgers for the treasurer and expanded the newsletter to include advertisements, which he described at the time as “working capital.”

The MWSCC’s April educational dinner meeting showcased why it is one of the oldest and largest chapters of the SCC. The event drew nearly 100 attendees who were just as eager to learn as they were to honor those who have educated and served in previous years.